Opening with a whisper and ending with a snarlingly epic conclusion. Perhaps the theme of the album is an ideal reflection of Caspian themselves, a band that insists on finding its own way and settles for nothing less than instrumental perfection.
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As usual Bradford Cox connects to the very heart of the melancholy and joyous side of music. Logos in my opinion is better than anything he’s ever done. I know how bold that is, but I love this record.
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A lyrical mastermind and a thought-provokingly amazing songwriter. This is punk music for the hip-hop soul and done so cleverly with the help of the Rhymesayers. Songs like Low Light Low Life and Goodbye are alone worth purchasing this album.
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The amount of emotion poured into Hospice is unrelenting. Having already heard Bear early in the year, I had to find out what the rest of the album sounded like. Bear ended up being re-translated for me once I had heard the whole album through. Like reading one middle chapter of a book and then going and reading the whole thing in order. Hospice is a gorgeous and delicate record and a sneak attack on the listener’s emotions.
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His craft in songwriting and artful hi-fi production are well represented in Romanian Names. I’m pretty sure the world will end if this man makes one bad record. Keep saving the world my friend!
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[mp3] John Vanderslice – Fetal Horsesfrom Romanian Names (2009)
20. Doom – Born Like This
The grittiness is back. Lyrically brilliant and an all out blast to listen to, plus any record with a sample of Charles Bukowski is automatically awesome to me.
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DOOM – Ballskin from Born Like This (2009)
19. Sleep Whale – House Boat
As a sucker for ambient music and electro-acoustic soundscapes, Sleep Whale’sHouse Boat is my year’s MVP. A friend of mine said they reminded him of The Album Leaf, I responded with, “No, these guys are better.”
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[mp3] Sleep Whale – Cotton Curls from Houseboat (2009)
18. Jónsi & Alex – Riceboy Sleeps
Drenched in alien-like soundscapes and complex acoustics, “Jónsi” Þór Birgisson (Sigur Rós) and Alex Somers (Parachutes) made the world of ambient music shake with Riceboy Sleeps. The album’s ethereal movements and angelic atmosphere made listening an almost supernatural experience.
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[mp3] Jónsi & Alex- Boy 1904 from Riceboy Sleeps (2009)
17. Bat For Lashes – Two Suns
This is a more fragile record than people give it credit for. Songs like Moon and Moon and Glass are worth cuddling up with a pair of headphones and letting Natasha Khan’s soothing voice take you.
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Bat For Lashes – Glass from Two Suns (2009)
16. Mos Def – The Ecstatic
Probably his best record to date. He’s been batting 1000 this year and this is no exception. Enlisting Madlib, Chad Hugo, and Georgia Anne to help produce this record was the obvious reason this record turned out so well, but Mos Def still has that lyrical flow everyone knows and loves.
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Mos Def – Twilight Speedball from The Ecstatic (2009)
15. Division Day – Visitation
Visitation is a work of structured and dark industrial beauty. Infused with haunting melodies, complex arrangements, vibrant sonic palettes, and infectious rhythms; this eleven-song LP will undoubtedly both challenge and pleasurably reward anyone not familiar with D-Day.
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[mp3] Division Day – Devil Lightfrom Visitation (2009)
14. St. Vincent – Actor
The amount of talent Annie Clark exudes on Actor is undeniably amazing. Her beautiful voice melds perfectly with her intricate guitar work and the grand orchestrations make Actor quite possibly her best work so far.
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The atmosphere that lurks in this album is the definition of ‘heavy’ music. Not heavy as in metal, just weighted and dark. You are instantly transported and free to let your imagination run a muck.
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Fever Ray – When I Grow Up from Fever Ray (2009)
12. Clues – Clues
Punch me if you want but I wasn’t too impressed with Island’s new album, Vapours. However, Alden Penner’s (along with Brendan Reed and Bethany Or) Clues pretty much made up for the disappointment of both Vapours and probably never getting another Unicorns record. Penner’s voice carries the listener off on an epically fun voyage. It’s like a Pixar movie as a record; accessible, joyous, and overwhelmingly creative.
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It was almost like he took a step back from his past records and took a different approach on this album. For the better of course, but the songs sound more rich with landscape and heavy on layers. That signature prose and instrumental genius exists, making Noble Beast one of the more fun folkish records of the year.
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They are quickly becoming one of my favorite bands. Not only because of their performance with Björk but because of their uncategorizeable style on Bitte Orca. Their complex arrangements of harmonies and jazzy melodies make this record a pleasure never to be guilty over. My only complaint; too short.
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[mp3] Dirty Projectors – No Intentionfrom Bitte Orca (2009)
9. Mew – No More Stories Are Told Today I’m Sorry They Washed Away No More Stories The World Is Grey I’m Tired Let’s Wash Away
Despite having one of the worst albums covers this side of a community college photoshop submission (something they’re kind of famous for), No More Stories is an dark and epic giganotosaurus of a record. Some call them progressive rock from another planet, I agree…except for the prog-rock part.
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Mew – Beach from No More Stories Are Told Today I’m Sorry They Washed Away No More Stories The World Is Grey I’m Tired Let’s Wash Away (2009)
8. Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion
As a casual fan of Animal Collective, I approached this album like I approach all AniCol records, an open mind. Well, my mind was properly blown thank you very much. This album will forever be known as their most important record of not only their career but in independent music in general.
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Animal Collective – Summertime Clothes from Merriweather Post Pavilion (2009)
7. Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
It’s extremely difficult to make pop music art again. Last year MGMT almost made it but their record fizzled out midway. No band this year could match the sheer catchiness and addictive rhythms of Phoenix. No wonder commercials and radio have been jumping at the chance to play their music.
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[mp3] Phoenix – 1901 from Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (2009)
6. The Flaming Lips – Embryonic
Booming with fuzzed up entertainment and free minded lyrics. This is evidence that there is always room for growth in a band that has already perfected it’s craft.
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The Flaming Lips – The Sparrow Looks Up At The Machine from Embryonic (2009)
5. BlakRoc – BlakRoc
When some one says ‘rap-rock’ I want to punch a puppy…just want to get that out there. But when I heard BlakRoc, I heard the roots of two genres meshing together and creating something that probably should have been done a long time ago. Mixing the Black Keys with the likes of Q-Tip, Raekwon, RZA, Pharoahe Monch, etc; you get a potent mix that requires the listener to crank the volume.
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BlakRoc – Ain’t Nothing Like You (Hoochie Coo) (feat. Jim Jones & Mos Def) from Blakroc (2009)
4. Fanfarlo – Reservoir
Criminally underrated and perhaps annoyingly overhyped. Either way it’s undeniable that the humble Fanfarlo entered this year with one of the most heartwarming and lovable records. I see bright lights in their future, catch them while you can.
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While not exactly another Sunny Day Real Estate album, Jeremy Enigk’sOk Bear is a grower, and boy does it grow on you. Covering all aspects of his music that I love and even touching on new ground, Enigk made the long drives to work that much more beautiful.
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They have been perfecting their brand of progressive beach rock for years and finally have made the record that truly embodies the real talent that is Portugal. The Man. Bonus points for the fantastic album art. Well done men.
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[mp3] Portugal. The Man – People Sayfrom The Satanic Satanist (2009)
1. Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest
It didn’t take long for me to love every inch of this album and have it grow into one of my favorites of all time. The very genius of this record is the gentle journey that it takes you on. You are instantly transported and forced to pay attention like a book you can’t put down. A smart and aurally perfect record on every level.
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[mp3] Grizzly Bear – Cheerleader from Veckatimest (2009)
BIG week in the Bay. With several Outside Lands After-parties and the festival itself, there is no shortage of things to do here. Also a visit from Ted Leo, a record release party, and a country music legend stops by an unlikely venue.
Tonight we have The Matches playing the final date off their tour with Judgement Day and Dizzy Balloon at the Fillmore, Six Organs of Admittance and Master Musicians of Bukkake rock The Independent, Fleet Foxes drummer and creator of one of the best albums of 2009, J. Tillman stops by Café du Nord, Jay Reatard does a set at Berkeley’s Amoeba Records at 6pm.
Monday, Ted Leo and The Pharmacists hit up the Bottom of the Hill instead of Treasure Island which they originally intended.
Tuesday features Fruit Bats riding on their new record with Death Vessel at The Independent. The Ruminant Band is a beautiful record full of sweet harmonies and lovely song-writing. Pick it up when you get a chance. Also the amazing Ramona Falls play Café du Nord.
Wednesday will find me at The Fillmore watching dredg, Rx Bandits and As Tall as Lions. All of which have released some pretty impressive albums this year. Also going on is The Dodos and Spencey Dude & the Doodles playing the Rickshaw Stop to kick off Outside Lands fever. Oh yeah and it’s sold out. Bummer.
More Outside Landish shows on Thursday; Akron/Family and Howlin’ Rain crash the Rickshaw Stop and Holy Fuck plays The Independent. In addition, we have The Famous‘ Record Release Party at Café du Nord with 20 Minute Loop and Billy & Dolly.
If you’re not going to Outside Lands this weekend, we have the Outside Lands Afterparty with San Francisco local acts Goodbye Nautilus, The Working Title and Wave Array at Café du Nord.
On Saturday we have hip-hoppers Blue Sky Black Death, Boy in Static and Boy Eats Drum Machine at the Bottom of the Hill, Calexico at The Independent, The Pretenders and Cat Power at Mountain Winery in Saratoga, and country legend David Allan Coe at Petaluma’s Phoenix Theater.
Being joked as this year’s ‘Bro-chella’,Outside LandsFestivalhas many unimpressive acts but a lot of overlooked impressive acts. This year’s line-up includes; Incubus, Modest Mouse, Pearl Jam, Black Eyed Peas, Thievery Corporation, Tenacious D, Jason Mraz, Dave Matthews Band, TV on the Radio, The Mars Volta, M.I.A., Band of Horses, The National, Built to Spill, Bat for Lashes, Calexico, Tom Jones, Mastodon, Silversun Pickups, Los Campesinos!, Ween, Atmosphere, Brett Dennen, Deerhunter, Lucinda Williams, Os Mutantes, Q-Tip, John Vanderslice, Conor Oberst, Akron/Family, Portugal. The Man, Cage the Elephant, Alpha Blondy, Raphael Saadiq, Groundation, Kinky, Lenka, The Duke Spirit, Matt & Kim, Lila Downs, Autolux, The Avett Brothers, Robert Randolph & The Family Band, Dengue Fever, The Dirtbombs, The Dead Weather, Heartless Bastards, Midnite, Blind Pilot, Bettye LaVette, Tea Leaf Green, The Morning Benders, West Indian Girl, Darondo, Ryan Bingham, Zee Avi, Street Sweeper Social Club, Rosin Coven, Extra Golden, JJ Grey & Mofro, Nino Moschella, Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band, Sambada, Reggie Watts, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, Big Light, Eric McFadden Trio, Loop!Station, Yard Dogs Road Show, Infantree, Vau De Vire and madd vibe orchestra. A lot to digest. Well I’ll be doing my best to report on everything I see every night when I return from the festival. Photos, mp3s, and everything else I did last year (if you caught that, if not, whatever).
This week is Outside Lands Week here at Kata Rokkar. So we’ll have Kuestionnaires with OLF bands and reports on local acts making their festival debuts. Hope to see you out there!
The Working Title– The Crashfrom About-Face (2006)
Boy in Static– Young San Franciscofrom Young San Francisco (2009)
Fruit Bats – The Ruminant Bandfrom The Ruminant Band (2009)
As Tall As Lions – Sleepyhead (Acoustic Version)from You Can’t Take It With You (Bonus Track) (2009)
J. Tillman– Steel on Steelfrom Vacilando Territory Blues (2009)
So far this year has been quite musically mindblowing. But wasn’t that kind of expected? With even more anticipated albums, songs, and tours on the horizon, 2009 is shaping up to be one of the better years on the decade.
Top 5 Albums That Met/Surpassed My Expectations
Simplistic and a combination of years of timeless work.
Meticulously crafted and easy to get obsessed with. An instant classic.
Too easy? STFU! This album will forever be an example of when everything we knew about experimental pop changed.
Sunlight and skill in a 12-track album. Way better than expected.
Took some time to love but there is something special going on here that is beyond a simple rock album…
Top 5 Songs That Caught Me Off Guard (in a good way)
Sleepy Sun – White Dove
St. Vincent – Save Me From What I Want
Bat for Lashes – Glass
Mos Def – Auditorium – Mos Def,
Clues – Remember Severed Head
Best Compilation For Anyone With Good Taste
The Grizzly Bear and Feist song alone is worth purchasing this perfectly crafted comp.
Top 5 EPs That Teased Me To The Point Of Joyous Anger
The amount of imagination and playfulness is undeniable. I can’t wait to see what they do next.
They never cease to amaze and pull at the heart strings.
This is the evolution of true rock music in the making. I can’t wait until August 25th for the full product.
Spoon at the their most dramatic and dreamy. An interesting listen.
Is he seriously of this world?
Top 5 Instrumental/Ambient Album That I’ve Been Reading To
This is a monster that has been awakened to destroy your eardrums.
A moving debut masterpiece.
Refusing to be pigeon-holed or classified. Gifts delivers their most personal record yet.
I am so happy this finally got a proper release. An emotionally effusive debut.
It might have been a bit on the short end, but the saying always puts quality ahead of quantity.
And for British singer Natasha Khan also know as Bat For Lashes, her 85-minute set at a sold-out Great American Music Hall last Saturday evening was a quality-filled spectacle on many levels, all with the intent to take her followers on a mystical medieval journey while playing the role of an electro-tinged minstrel.
Hecuba
First off, the very experimental Hecuba took the stage and played a few off their latest release, Paradise. Dressed in a one piece unitard, lead vocalist Isabelle Albuquerque jumped, danced, and kind of freaked out on stage for a good half-hour while everyone tried to interpret what was going on. Entertaining nonetheless.
Bat For Lashes
From the shimmering glitter streamer backdrop to the numerous branches and dolls around the stage, Bat For Lashes, touring behind this year’s Two Suns album, brought a unique style to San Francisco.
Supported by a tight three-piece band, Bat For Lashes opened with the dreamy and hushed Glass before the acoustic trip-pop hues of Sleep Alone. Both songs got decent responses but Natasha Khan was happy to go straight into the following track.
Bat For Lashes
Probably the first true glimpse of her range came during Siren Song, a rich, airy, orchestral number which had the performer going from Kate Bush range to Dusty Springfield with no problems whatsoever, and garnered a louder ovation.
The performer has a knack for crafting fun, carefree electro-pop nuggets such as the toe-tapping Horse and I from 2007’s Fur and Gold release and especially on Sarah, which got the entire crowd singing along.
Bat For Lashes
Just over an hour in, Bat For Lashes was already closing up shop with the groove-filled Pearl’s Dream. With the floor filling up with people and all on their feet, she took a bow, said thanks and left the stage.
Considering how the main set finished on such a high, the encore’s gentle, melancholic tandem of Prescilla and Moon and Moon might have caught some off guard. Well she brought that high back with her second encore by finally performing Daniel, much to everyone’s delight.
Bat For Lashes
Whether you’re prepared for it or not, Bat For Lashes is going to be pretty huge in coming months. With her vocals always on key and her demanding stage presence, she is one of the better live shows you could end up seeing this year. It was for me.
(if you are a regular reader, you might notice that we have eliminated the “Download” button. This is due to the new Wordpress 2.8 and all it’s glory for messing with my alignment. A small change but a necessary one in my opinion.)
Monday Camera Obscura spreads the love at The Fillmore, electro-wacko Patrick Wolf, Living Things, Jaguar Love and Plastiscines weird it up Slim’s, and Handsome Furs will be supporting their newest and best album ‘Face Control’ with railcars and The Cinnamon Band at The Great American Music Hall.
Tuesday hosts Neko Case and Jason Lytle at the The Warfield (which will be on Wednesday too), IAMX (Chris Corner of Sneaker Pimps) will be at Slim’s, and the brilliant Felice Brothers and Willy Mason are performing at The Independent.
Your Wednesday line-up includes an amazing show at the Great American Music Hall with Secret Chiefs 3 and Kayo Dot. Thee Parkside hosts Static Radio with No Harm Done and Jokes For Feelings, The Lemonheads headline at Slim’s, and dueling guitarists Rodrigo y Gabriela and The Mother Hips will be performing at Mountain Winery in Saratoga.
This Thursday we have Canadian rockers The Constantines and Crystal Antlers at the Rickshaw Stop, Swedish indie poppers Love Is All at the Bottom of the Hill, M.I.A. protege Rye Rye at Popscene, and The Von Bondies and Audrye Sessions at The Blank Club in San Jose.
Friday brings the onslaught with powerviolence (yes that’s a real genre)/grindcore trio Magrudergrind at the Gilman St Project in Berkeley, experimental noise pop group Telepathe with Nite Jewel make dance at the Bottom of the Hill, darkwavers She Wants Revenge and Great Northern hit up Bimbo’s 365 Club, Norwegian electro-rockers Datarock play at The Independent, and Wallpaper. crash at the Rickshaw Stop.
click poster for more info
Hippie…err…Harmony Festival at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds in Santa Rosa is hosting a megaload of freespirited, earth loving, soulful, and psychedelic artists this weekend. You have Shpongle, Matisyahu, India.Arie, Balkan Beat Box, Michael Franti & Spearhead, ALO (Animal Liberation Orchestra), Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars, Wassabi Collective, Steve Kimock’s Crazy Engine and DJ Gaudi all rocking out from Friday to Sunday. Let me take this opportunity now to mention that I hate Michael Franti. WTF is Rebel Rock? Really? Please stop this nonsense, it hurts my brain thingy.
Saturday is where the party is though. Au Revoir Simone and The Antlers takeover Bimbo’s 365 Club, garage punk wacko Jay Reatard and Thee Oh Sees perform at The Independent, and Papercuts will be at the San Francisco Amoeba Records at 2pm.
My highlight of the week is Bat for Lashes at The Great American Music Hall. She is quickly becoming one of my favorite female vocalists and is already at the top of my Best Albums of 2009 with ‘Two Suns.’ Expect a full report of the show.
See you out there!
Willy Mason – Sold My Soul
Love Is All – A More Uncertain Future
Telepathe – So Fine
Bat for Lashes – Use Somebody (Kings of Leon Cover)
Kata Rokkar is a place where you can download free mp3 from artists and bands that I currently love and listen to. They are only for sampling purposes and to influence you to go out and support these artists by purchasing their records and going to their concerts. If you are a record company or an artist that is displeased with a song being displayed, feel free to contact me and I will remove it ASAP. Thank you and enjoy!
So far this year has been quite musically mindblowing. But wasn’t that kind of expected? With even more anticipated albums, songs, and tours on the horizon, 2009 is shaping up to be one of the better years on the decade.
Another eventful week in the Bay ladies and gentlemen. First off, tonight you have the
